Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Honey

Bruce, a guy who works for our barn builder, and Kris tackled the bee issue today. For the last week I've been explaining honey dripping from my ceiling to various babysitters and houseguests. (You don't have five bowls of honey in your living room? It's all the rage!)

But today was the day! Instead of cutting into the wall, like we thought we were going to have to do, Kris suggested we try from the outside. They got on the roof and pulled out the arch above the window where we initially saw the bees.

Bee free arch

Bee full arch

What did they find? Honeycombs - lots of them. Saturated with honey. Apparently it was going to be dripping for a long, long time. They threw them off the roof onto the ground and hosed off everything. No bees, though, which made the job easier.

I'm going to monitor the dripping to see if any more honey comes or if that was the sole source.

Many people I've told about this have never heard of having bees in your walls. But if you look for it on the internet you'll see it's really common.

Yes, living in an old farmhouse has its downsides. Not enough outlets. Having to seal it for bats. Living too close to the road. Random liquids coming from your ceiling. But when Bruce commented on how beautiful the old woodwork is, it makes me happy about the upsides. Plus, we really like living where we can see everything that goes on between our barns.

And did I mention we have free honey? Lots and lots of honey? Free range, organic, from ancient (dead) bees, AND filtered through 130-year old walls! Spun like that, it'd be perfect for selling at a farmers market. I can't wait to see what money-making material this house will produce next. Have you seen how much bat guano is going for?

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Eight years ago, we quit our corporate jobs and bought a dairy farm in Michigan. We milk cows and raise alfalfa, corn, and three little boys. This year I'm a spokesperson for U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance. I love talking about farming - ask me anything!